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World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra is next up in St. Bonaventure’s Martine Performing Arts Series

Feb 05, 2018 |

The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University.

The concert is part of the year-long Martine Performing Arts Series, a 10-performance program made possible by a grant from the university’s James J. Martine Faculty Development Endowment. The Glenn Miller Orchestra kicks off the series’ spring semester performances. The series continues with four more events scheduled through March and April.

Tickets for the Glenn Miller Orchestra performance are moving fast, and that’s no surprise to Dr. Leslie Sabina, chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at St. Bonaventure, which coordinates the series.

“They’re one of the country’s longest touring bands, if not the longest,” said Sabina. And this upcoming St. Bonaventure visit isn’t their first. The Glenn Miller Orchestra, under the direction of Ray McKinley, played for the university’s Junior Prom in 1969, said Sabina.

“Everyone knows the Glenn Miller story, about how he joined the Army and put together this great band to entertain the troops in World War II,” said Sabina. In 1943 alone, the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band gave more than 800 performances, some 500 of which were radio broadcasts heard by millions.

Miller was one of the most successful dance band leaders in the Swing Era of the 1930s and ’40s. “The Glenn Miller Story,” a 1954 movie starring James Stewart, was a box office smash.

Their sound’s popularity has not diminished over the years, said Sabina. “Our Jazz Band has featured a lot of this music at the university’s annual Swing into Spring Big Band Dance, and will be doing so again this year,” he said. That event is April 11 in the Doyle Hall Dining Room.

“We’re excited about the band’s return to St. Bonaventure,” said Sabina. “It should be a great show.”

The Martine Performing Arts Series continues with these four upcoming performances:

7 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at the Rathskeller on campus: Jazz ’n’ Wings with The Les Sabina Septet. Sabina, an award-winning composer and accomplished saxophonist, will be joined by some of the best jazz musicians in the region for a performance of contemporary jazz as chicken wings are served up, courtesy of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, at the Quick Center: LanDforms, a dance and performance art duo composed of Leah Crosby, a creative dance teacher on Martha’s Vineyard, and Danielle Evelena Doell, a dance performance artist based in Seattle, Wash.

7 p.m. Monday, April 30, at the Quick Center: Harmonia Chamber Singers: An Evening of A Capella. A highly regarded regional choir out of Buffalo, this 20-member group presents a variety of modern and Broadway a cappella choral pieces.

The James J. Martine Faculty Development Endowment, named after a longtime former English professor, funds activities designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning within St. Bonaventure’s core curriculum. The Martine Performing Arts Series provides an opportunity for students to experience a variety of performing arts genres, said Sabina.

All performances in the series are free for St. Bonaventure University students and employees. The series is open to the public as well, but general-public tickets are limited and there is a nominal fee of $5 per performance. “Those tickets are going fast,” said Sabina.

For ticket information, call the Quick Center at (716) 375-2494.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, we believe in the goodness of every person and in the ability of every person to do extraordinary things. St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. Named the #5 best college value in the North by U.S. News and World Report, we are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition